An electric wind in Venus is capable of eliminating water components such as oxygen from its upper atmosphere, according to new findings from the European Space Agency (ESA). That phenomenon may have contributed to the removal of oceans from the Earth’s sister planet.

Venus is the second planet from the sun. It resembles Earth in size and mass, although it has the hottest temperatures in the Solar System, among an atmosphere mostly composed of carbon dioxide. NASA-funded researchers also collaborated in the investigation.

Glyn Collinson, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said that new discoveries are “amazingly shocking.” He said the electric wind is potent enough to extract oxygen from at atmosphere to space.

An electric wind in Venus is capable of eliminating water components such as oxygen from its upper atmosphere. Photo credit: Astrology King
An electric wind in Venus is capable of eliminating water components such as oxygen from its upper atmosphere. Photo credit: Astrology King

Studying space environment around a planet is fundamental to understand which molecules are present in its atmosphere. It also serves to determine if a planet may be habitable. Detailed results of the study were published on Monday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

New findings regarding the electric wind should be considered when searching for habitable planets in space, added Collinson, lead author the paper. For instance, Venus’ atmosphere lacks elements needed to make water.

“We found that the electric wind, which people thought was just one small cog in a big machine, is, in fact, this big monster that’s capable of sucking the water from Venus by itself,” said Collinson in a NASA press release issued Monday.

Collinson: Oxygen ions in the upper atmosphere of Venus have won a terrible lottery

Scientists believe that Venus contained oceans in the past, which evaporated due to high surface temperatures of up to 860 F. NASA estimates that the atmosphere of the planet has between 10,000 and 1000,000 times less water than the one in Earth.

A theory proposes that “a stream of electrically conducting gas” coming from the sun, may have removed oxygen and water from Venus’ upper atmosphere. A mild electric field might surround every planet with an atmosphere, said NASA.

That electric field in Venus is so powerful that it can suck oxygen ions, which are “the heavier electrically charged component of water”. Collinson has described this force as an invisible hand which drags off everything it takes.

“When water molecules rise into the upper atmosphere, sunlight breaks the water into hydrogen and oxygen ions, which are then carried away by the electric field,” added NASA.

Why is the electric field in Venus stronger than in Earth?

Researchers have analyzed the electric field in Venus using a technology called electron spectrometer. The tool is aboard the Venus Express, an exploration mission that arrived in the hot planet on April 2006.

The study concluded that the Venu’s electric field is approximately five times more forceful than the one in Earth. The reason for this phenomenon is not clear yet. According to Collinson, an explanation might be found in the distance between the planet and the sun.

Ultraviolet sunlight, which is twice as bright in Venus than on Earth, may also play a significant role in the electric field. Researchers are investigating similar phenomena in Saturn’s moon Titan and Mars, according to Andrew Coates, lead scientist at the electron spectrometer team at University College in London.

Source: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center